Suitable Range Extender to use with Vodafone Huawei 659?

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Suitable Range Extender to use with Vodafone Huawei 659?

tonyd

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#170957 31-Mar-2015 15:56

I have two buildings on the same residential site, with separate mains power (so EoP not possible). With ADSL I used a TP Link WA830RE wireless range extender in the building where the ADSL router was not located. This worked very satisfactorily. However I now have VDSL/Huawei 659 router. Although the TP Link range extender does communicate with the router performance is patchy with wildly fluctuating data speed, dropouts, intermittent poor response, and even loss of connection. I'm wondering it the TP Link range extender is not suitable for the increased data rate, and therefore, what would be a suitable device to achieve stable and satisfactory performance?

Spyware

3762 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#1274577 31-Mar-2015 16:10

Disable wireless on Huawei and put adsl device back as access point. Problem solved.

Spark Max Fibre using Mikrotik CCR1009-8G-1S-1S+, CRS125-24G-1S, Unifi UAP, U6-Pro, UAP-AC-M-Pro, Apple TV 4K (2022), Apple TV 4K (2017), iPad Air 1st gen, iPad Air 4th gen, iPhone 13, SkyNZ3151 (the white box). If it doesn't move then it's data cabled.

sbiddle

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#1274589 31-Mar-2015 16:38

For many reasons which I'm not going to explain again (because there are plenty of posts on here discussing this) range extenders are a horrible product that more often that not will not actually solve wireless problems.

In a typical situation if you want reliable wireless either buy a 2nd access point (or reuse an existing one as mentioned above) and either cable it in with Ethernet cable, or buy a pair of Ethernet over Power adapters which you can use inside your house to plug the 2nd access point into. As in this case Ethernet over Power isn't an option you'll need to look at cabling, or external wireless links between building, or if there is existing copper possibly a pair of VDSL2 extenders.

tonyd

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1274594 31-Mar-2015 16:49

The two buildings are only 12 metres apart. However running power between them is not really an option. Can I ask an ignorant question? Does strength of the wireless signal emitted from different routers vary?! Is it possible for the signal from a Huawei 659 ito be not as strong as that from a Netcomm NB6Plus4W?

sbiddle

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#1274599 31-Mar-2015 16:52

tonyd: Can I ask an ignorant question? Does strength of the wireless signal emitted from different routers vary?! Is it possible for the signal from a Huawei 659 ito be not as strong as that from a Netcomm NB6Plus4W?

Yes. Perfectly normal.

johnr

19282 posts

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#1274630 31-Mar-2015 17:09

If I was to use anything it would be draytek

tonyd

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1274646 31-Mar-2015 17:24

I already have a Draytek AP-700 which is connected EoP to the Huawei and works fine.
I have noticed that the Huawei 659 appears to reboot itself, unbidden, at times. I have a media server in the same room as the Huawei, connected wirelessly using a second WA830RE range extender, and have noticed its IP address change without any restart/reboot action by me ... very odd. I'm starting to wonder about this box.

webwat

2036 posts

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#1275603 1-Apr-2015 18:33

I have to say, why would you connect a media server wirelessly in the same room? It will benefit quite alot from a cabled connection.

Have you looked at whether you have best placement of your Draytek for coverage around the property? Keep in mind that range extenders suck up the wireless bandwidth to re-transmit everything, as well as needing to be within good range from the router. Look at whether you can run an outdoor-rated Cat6 cable to the other building, maybe hang it from a bearer wire or something.

Time to find a new industry!